Man Sues New Mexico State Police Over Son’s Shooting Death

New Mexico state police have been sued by the father of a Glorieta man who was shot and killed at his home by officers last year as they responded to a report of road rage on an area highway.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the wrongful death lawsuit was filed recently in state district court by Daniel T. Pauly, the father of Samuel Pauly.

Samuel Pauly died in October 2011 after he was shot in the chest by state police officers investigating a report involving his brother Daniel Pauly. Authorities had been told someone tried to run two women off Interstate 25 before getting out of his vehicle and threatening them.

Three officers approached the Pauly brothers’ residence after identifying Daniel’s parked truck as the one involved in the road rage case, state police have said. The officers have said they heard gunshots and someone shout, “We have guns. Stay off the property.”

When one officer saw Samuel Pauly standing in a window with a pistol, he shot him. While the Paulys say Samuel fired a warning shot into the air, the district attorney has said he fired at one of the officers.

State police spokesman Robert McDonald declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Daniel Pauly, who managed to elude authorities by fleeing the residence with a shotgun, later approached police to ask for help and was arrested on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting or evading arrest. Both charges were dismissed.

A grand jury declined to indict the state police officers.

The lawsuit states that Daniel Pauly didn’t hear the officers identify themselves when they approached the Glorieta house.

The complaint says the police yelled and cursed at the brothers, telling them they were surrounded and demanding that they come out, but didn’t announce they were police or use visible police lights.

The lawsuit also said that, after the killing, the state police photographed Pauly’s body with a cellphone and distributed the image to members of the public.

Copyright 2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.